How They Got Their Name: Jacksonville Jaguars

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It was a long time coming when Jacksonville, Florida was awarded the 30th NFL franchise in 1993.  Before the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984, Jacksonville had been in discussions of acquiring that team.  They had also been in discussions of acquiring the Oilers from Houston, before they ended up in Tennessee.  So, when Jacksonville was selected to gain the new expansion franchise in ’93 over St. Louis, Baltimore, and Memphis it was shockingly pleasant news to folks in Florida’s largest city.  As a brand-new NFL franchise, there were many things that needed to be figured out before the team began play.  Their name, however, was not one of them.

Four years prior to being selected as an expansion franchise, the prospective ownership group Touchdown Jacksonville! was organized.  Part of laying out plans to bring an NFL team to Jacksonville included naming their hypothetical team.  A local contest was held to name the team in 1991, which gave way to the Jaguars, Sharks, Stingrays, and Panthers (Carolina Panthers joined in ’93 along with the Jaguars) as the finalists.  Perhaps it was the alliteration of “Jacksonville Jaguars” that sounded so natural.  Perhaps it was because even though the animal isn’t native to Florida, the oldest living jaguar in North America at the time resided in the Jacksonville Zoo.  But in the end, the Jacksonville “Jaguars” won out and fans couldn’t imagine their team being called anything else.

Garett